System and apparatus for propelling vehicles by compressed air.



J. O. COBB. SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VEHICLES BY QOMPRESSEDAIR.

' APPLICATION FILED JAN. a, 1910.

969,772. Patented Sept. 13,1910.

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J. 0. COBB. SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VEHICLES BY COMPRESSEDAIR.

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J. 0. COBB. SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VEHICLES BY COMPRESSEDAIR.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.8, 1910. 969,772. Patented Sept. 13,1910.

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SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VEHICLES BY COMPRESSED AIR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 8, 1910. 969,772. Patented Sept. 13,1910.

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J. O. COBB.

SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VEHICLES BY COMPRESSED AIR.

APPLICATION TILED JAILB, 1910.

969,772. Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

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J. O. COBB. SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VEHICLES BY COMPRESSEDAIR.

APPLICATION FILED JAILH, 1910. 969,772. Patented Sept. 13,1910.

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J. O. COBB. SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VEHICLES BY COMPRESSEDAIR. APPLIOATION FILED JANA], 1910.

969,772. Patented Sept13,1910.

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SYSTEM AND APPARATUS FOR PROPELLING VEHICLES BY COMPRESSED AIR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 13, 1910.

Application filed January 8, 1910. Serial No. 537,059.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULIUS O. Conn, a citizen of the United States,residing atv Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State oflVisconsin, have invented a certain new and useful System and Apparatusfor Propelling Vehicles by Compressed Air, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forminga part thereof.

This invention relates to a system and organization of apparatus forpropelling vehicles by compressed air, as will be pointed out in thisspecification and the claims.

The smoke nuisance resulting from the use of steam locomotives byrailroads has become so intolerable that many cities have eitherforbidden the use of steam locomotives which burn coal and other smokeproducing fuels, or are seriously contemplating the prohibit-ion of theoperation of such locomotives Within city limits. \Vhile dif ferentschemes have been suggested from time to time for operating cars withoutthe use of steam locomotives, at the present day and before thisinvention, the application of electricity appeared to offer the onlycommercially practicable solution of the problems involved. Theapplication of electricity, however, to the propulsion of cars andsimilar vehicles, while successful to a certain extent, is open to veryserious objections because of the danger to human and animal life fromthe electric current, owing to the fact that however carefully guarded,insulated, and protected the conductors of electricity are, neverthelessthere is constant liability of serious danger, damage and loss of lifedue to unforeseen and unexpected accidents. Electricity is somethingthatis not capable of being seen or heard, and usually it does not makeits presence known except at the instant of inflicting damage to personsor property. For the reasons that electricity is not visible, noraudible, nor capable of making its presence known to ordinary personsexcept as damage is inflicted, it is a very undesirable and unsafe agentto use, particularly in cities, railroad yards, &c., for the propulsionof cars and vehicles.

Compressed air, when used in the manner pointed out in thisspecification and the claims, is the ideal cheap, safe and clean mediumfor use in propelling cars and simi lar vehicles. The supply of air isof course inexhaustible, it can be used without danger to persons orproperty, no provision need be made for taking care of it when it isexhansted after having completed its work, and it creates no nuisance.\Vith modern systems of compression by successive stages with coolingbetween the stages and'by reheating, if desired, before use, compressedair affords one of the most economical mediums known for thetransmission of power, as it can be cheaply compressed, cheaplyreheated, and can be conveyed long distances with very little frictionand loss of energy.

This invention contemplates providing railroads with pipes adapted toconvey compressed air from a compressor plant or station, said pipesbeing provided with nozzles adapted to discharge the air under pressureagainst propelling vanes carried by a car or cars, valves being providedto control the flow of air through said nozzles, said valves beingadapted to be operated from a car, or cars, to permit the compressed airto flow from said nozzles against said vanes to propel the car or carsat the will of the engineer.

Referring to the drawings which accompany this specilimition and form apart thereof, and on which drawings the same reference characters areused to designate the same elements wherever they may appear in each ofthe several views, and which drawings illustrate embodiments of thisinvention, Figures 1, 2 and 3 illustrate diagrammatically, layouts ofrailway tracks, pipe lines, compressor plants and reheating plants; Fig.l is an elevation of a car partly broken away, equipped with thepreferred form of apparatus embodying this inven tion; Figs. 5 and 5 areplan views of a pilot car and trailer, showing the preferred form ofapparatus, the car bodies being removed; Fig. (3 is a vertical sectiontaken on the line ([(L of Fig. 5, the apparatus being shown 011 a largerscale and some parts bcing omitted; Fig. 7 is a vertical section similarto Fig. (3 taken on the line 7)7) of Fig. 5; Fig. 8 is an elevationtaken on the line o e of Fig. 5, parts being broken away; Fig. 9 is anelevation of a train illustrating a modified mnstruction of apparatus;Fig. 10 is a plan view of the train shown by Fig. 9, the car bodiesbeing omitted; Fig. 11 is an elevation on an enlarged scale of one ofthe trucks and some of the associated parts of a car shown by Fig. 9;Fig. 12 is a plan view of the truck and associated parts shown by Fig.11; Fig. 13 is a transverse elevation of the truck shown by Figs. 11 and12 taken on the line cZ-cl of Fig. 12; Fig. 14: is a vertical elevationtaken on the line e@ of Fig. 12; Fig. 15 is an elevation of theengineers valve; Fig. 16 is a horizontal section of the engineers valvetaken on the line ff of Fig. 15; Fig. 17 is a vertical section through askee operating cylinder; Fig. 18 is a vertical section through a valvechamber taken on the line gg of Fig. 12; Fig. 19 is a vertical sectionthrough a valve chamber taken on the line h-/1, of Fig. 12, the valvesshown by Figs. 18 and 19 being modifications; Fig. 20 is a verticaltransverse section ofthe preferred form of valve casing taken on theline z'z' of Fig. 21; and Fig. 21 is a vertical section through thepreferred form of valve casing taken on the line of Fig. 20.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the reference numerals 1 and 2designate the two rails composing a track in all of the figures.

The numeral 3, Figs. 1, 2 and 3, designates compressor plants or powerhouses, 1, main pipe lines leading from the compressor plants, 5,reheater plants or stations, 6, valve bodies, and 7 lateral pipesconnecting the main supply pipes with the valve bodies.

Of course it is to be understood that the layout for any specificinstallation will depend upon the physical, economic and other problemsencountered with each installation, and the diagrammatic layouts shownby Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are not intended to be exhaustive nor controlling,but are to be considered as suggestive of various schemes of layout. Forexample, the layout shown by Fig. 1 comprises a compressing plant 3,with a single main supply pipe 1 extending parallel with the rails 1 and2 composing the track, the compressing station being located at oneterminal of the main supply pipe 4; Fig. 2 shows. a scheme of layout inwhich two compressing plants 3, 3, are employed, each being locatedmidway of its own particular block of track, and the main supply pipe 4from each station is extended in each direction along the track, thuscutting in half the length of main supply pipe to be traversed by thecompressed air in supplying a block of track with compressed air. Thescheme of layout shown by Fig. 3 shows a single compressor plant 3, witha main supply pipe 4 extended therefrom along the track in bothdirections, said main supply pipe communicating with block supply pipes8 about midway of the blocks.

f course for double tracks, or a plurality of tracks, the main supplypipes can be duplicated, one for each track, or the valve casings foreach of the tracks may be supplied from a common supply pipe. It is notconsidered necessary to illustrate and describe in detail such layouts,as they Will be readily understood by engineers, and it will also beunderstood that the pipes may be on or above or below the surface of theground or road-bed.

The principle of operation of cars by the use of compressed air underthis invention is that the main supply pipes, valve chambers and lateralsupply pipes, if used, shall be filled with compressed air, and that acar or cars standing over valves shall be equipped with apparatus bymeans of which the engineer of the car or train may open and close thevalves so that the compressed air will impinge upon vanes carried by thecar to move it, or will be shut off, as desired.

The preferred place for the main supply pipe or the block supply pipesis midway between the two rails of a track with the valve casings andnozzles set between the rails, as this location does away with thenecessity for laterals connecting the main supply pipes with the valvecasings, and reduces the pipe length to be traversed by the compressedair, but in some cases it may be desirable or necessary to extend themain supply pipes at one side of and parallel with the track, and evento place the valve casings outside of the rails. WVhichever scheme isadopted, it is essential that the nozzles bear a fixed relation to therails of the track as regards their height, and it is essential in orderto prevent damaging the nozzles that the vane mechanism shall besupported in a fixed position with re spect to the nozzles and rails, sothat the vane mechanism cannot strike and damage the nozzles. By fixedposition of the vane mechanism is meant that it should be so supportedas, for example, by the equalizing bars, that it cannot approach nearerthan a predetermined distance to the nozzles, but may be free to moveaway from them if the car wheels run over an obstruction on the track.

As already stated, the preferred location for the valve casings andnozzles is between the rails, and the preferred location of the vanemechanism is between the wheels of the trucks or about the center of thecar transversely, and the preferred arrangement of apparatus will now bedescribed.

Referring to Figs. at to 8 inclusive of the drawings, the numerals 10,11, 12 and 13 designate the truck frames upon which two car bodies aremounted. These truck frames are supplied with wheels 14 and axles 15 inthe ordinary or any preferred manner, and two vane mechanisms 16 and 17are supported, preferably by each truck, in any preferred manner, sothat they are held a predetermined distance from the nozzles. These vanemembers may be constructed in any suitable or preferred manner, but itis preferred to construct them of a length substantially equal to thelength of the trucks, and one or more sets of 'anes are assembledtransversely of the car depending upon the number of nozzles which it isdesired to use. The vanes of the vane members are preferably of theimpulse and reaction type, as clearly shown by Fig. 7 of the drawings,the vanes being designated by the numerals 18. In order that a car maybe run either forward or backward, the two vane members 16 and 17 areprovided, the vanes of said vane members being curved in oppositedirections, as clearly shown by the drawings. This arrangement of thetwo vane members also provides for a car being turned end for end on thesame track so as to run forward and backward, the same as though it hadnot been turned.

The present design of car trucks can be made to better accommodate thecarrying of vane members, as it is desirable to support the vane membersfrom the equalizing bars or some fixed member instead of from the bodyof the car. The reason for this is that the at body is supported uponsprings and moves up and down on uneven tracks, or when obstructions areon the tracks and it is not desirable to have the "ane members move downtoward the nozzles orapproach nearer to them than a predetermined distance.

Figs. 4 to 8 inclusive of the drawings show vane members 16, 17, adaptedfor use with a class of trucks in common use, the central part of thevane members being cut away so as not to interfere with the spring plank19, bolster 20, and associated parts of the truck, as clearly shown byFigs. (5 and T. The vane members 16 and 17 are provided with apertures21 and 2.2 through which the axles 15 extend and within which the axles15 may freely revolve, preferably without actually contacting with thevane members, so that there will be no friction, and no lubrication needbe provided for. Parts of the vane members above apertures 21 and 22 maybe cut out and removably held in position after the vane members havebeen assembled with the trucks by any suitable or preferred means, asfor example, by straps 23 and 24 and bolts, as shown. The vane membersfor the reasons already stated, are preferably supported upon theequalizing bars 25 and may be supported thereon by means of projections26 with which the vane members are provided, the ends of saidprojections being adapted to seat upon the equalizing bars 25 and to beclamped thereto to hold them firmly .in position and so that the endwisethrust of the vane members when in operation, is transmitted to thetrucks. These projections 26 may consist of two V-shaped braces, asclearly shown by Fig. 8 of the drawings, and preferably within which theequalizing bars are received, so that the vane members are preventedfrom tipping and are held spaced definitely from the equalizing bars.When two separate vane members 16 and 17 are used, as is the preferredconstruction, with two sets of nozzles pointing in opposite directions,it is preferred to have each vane member provided on one side withprojections 2(1 and on the opposite side with lugs .28, the lugs 28 oneach member serving both as spacing lugs and means for receiving bolts25) for fastening the vane members together.

\Vhile the preferred location for the main pipe line t is between therails of a track so as to obviate the necessity for lateral pipes 7,still it may sometimes be desirable to locate the main pipe line 4 atone side of the track outside of the rails or between the tracks of adouble track line. The only things to be observed in this connection arequestions of maintenance of road bed, voltune of tratlic, amount of piperequired for one kind of installation as compared with another, etc.,all of which are practical considerations to be settled by the specificlocal economic conditions atl'ecting each particular installation, andare purely matters of general engineering knowledge and information, andno specific examples and calculations are necessary with respect theretofor a thorough and complete undm'standing of the present invention.

Figs. 4: to 8 inclusive of the drawings show a main pipe line Ll, whichmay be either a main pipe line proper, like the pipe lines 11: shown byFigs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, or block supply pipes S, such as areshown by Fig. 3 of the drawings, located parallel with and to one sideof the rails 1 and 2 of a track, and this main supply pipe is providedwith the lateral pipes 7, which are adapted to convey compressed air tothe valve bodies (3 located between the rails 1 and 2 of the trackshown, and similar valv-e bodies (not shown) located between the railsof an adjoining track (not shown). The valve bodies (3 are preferablysupplied with two sets of nozzles 5), one nozzle for each series ofvanes in the vane members, the nozzles of the two sets pointing inopposite directions lengthwise of the track and the passage ofcompressed air through said nozzles being controlled by a single valvefor each set of nozzles.

The valve members (i and the nozzles carried thereby should be spacedalong the track according to the length of the vane members andaccording to trallic conditions. A car should always stand with a vanemember over at least one set of nozzles, and at stations, or on upgratfl'es. the number of nozzles to a given length of track should behave their ends provided with recesses 27 1 increased to make up for theextra tractive power required on the grade, and to enable the carentrain to get up its speed with suflicient rapidity from a state ofrest. On down grades on the other hand, the nozzles and valve membersmay be omitted entirely if the grade is sufficient to carry the carsdown with the required speed, or only enough nozzles may be used to givethe required speed, but on down grades it may be desirable to use thenozzles projecting in the direction opposite to the direction of travelin order to use them to stop the car should the brakes with which theear is provided for any reason fail, or should a special around theshell structure 290 and preferably cast integral therewith, are thechamber walls 30 and 31 which inclose chambers 32 and 33. Apertures 34,35, 36 and 37 afford communication between chambers 32 and 33 and theinterior of the member 290 and within these apertures 34, 35, 36 and 37are preferably secured valve seats 38, 39, 40, 41, which are removablyseated in said apertures, as for example by being screwthreaded thereinas clearly shown by Figs. 20 and 21. Balanced puppet valves 42 and 43engage with said valve seats, chambers 30 and 31 being provided withremovable screwthreaded caps 44 and 45, which enable said valves to beremoved and replaced and the valve seats to be removed and replaced.Springs 46 and 47 secured between the caps 44 and 45, and washers 48 and49 on the stems of the valves 42 and 43, serve to retain said valvesagainst their seats and to reseat them quickly after they have beenopened, so as to avoid waste of compressed a1r.

The numerals 50 and 51 designate rocker arms provided with levers 52within the chambers 32 and 33. The ends of said levers are bifurcated toreceive the valve stems and are provided with notches within which arereceived pins 53 and 54 carried by the valve stems, as clearly shown byFigs. 20 and 21 of the drawings. The rocker arms 50 and 51 extend outfrom the chambers 30 and 31 and on their outer ends are provided withcrank arms 55, 56, which open valves 42 and 43 when they are depressed.The nozzles 9 communicate with the chambers 32 and 33, as clearly shownby the drawings, and the nozzles communicating with chamber 32 point inone direction, and the nozzles communicating with chamber 33 point inthe opposite direction.

While it is preferred to have the vane members carried by the trucks andsupported by the equalizing bars, it is of course possible to supportthem in other ways, and they can if desired, be carried by a separateunder-framing. supported by the equalizing bars or in any other way soas to always maintain the same distance from the nozzles, and they canbe arranged the whole length of a car, either as one continuous vanemember, or a vane member composed of a plurality of sections, accordingto convenience and the wishes of the user. In some cases it may beconsidered desirable to simply attach vane members outside the trucks toreceive their supply of compressed air from pipes laid outside the railsand parallel thereto, and in Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18 and 19 Ihave illustrated what I at present consider the preferred constructionfor this modified arrangement and location of the vane members.

Referring to Fig. 9, I have illustrated a train composed of three carsdesignated by the reference numerals 57, 58 and 59. The same numeralsheretofore used designate the two rails of the track, and the numerals60 and 61 designate two pipes laid parallel with the rails, and onopposite sides thereof, and sutliciently close thereto, so that thenozzles from valve bodies attached directly to said pipes may lie withinthe planes occupied by the vane members attached to the trucks. Thesevalve bodies are designated by the numerals 62, and each valve body isprovided with a downwardly extended projection 63, which isscrewthreaded so as to screw directly into a screwthreaded aperture in apipe 60 or 61. Each valve body is provided with partitions or webs 64,65 and 66, which are preferably formed as integral parts of the castingwhich forms the valve body, and these partitions form two chambers 67and 68 within the valve body, with which chambers the nozzles 69 and 70respectively communicate. Said nozzles are preferably made of bentpieces of pipe screwed into the valve body 62, their ends being beveledoff so as to lie in a horizontal plane, as clearly shown by Figs. 18 and19 of the drawings. The partitions 64 and 65 are provided with aperturestherethrough, the edges of which form valve seats, and puppet valves 71,72, control the flow of air through said apertures from the interior ofvalve body 62 to the chambers 67 and 68 and consequently to nozzles 69and 70. The valve body is provided with caps and stuffing boxes 73 and74 through which the stems of the. valves 71 and 72 project, andpreferably these valve stems are provided with enlargements or heads,the valve stems proper being received within recesses in the ends oflevers 75, 76, with the enlarged heads above said levers, as clearlyshown by Figs. 18 and 19 of the drawings. The levers 75 and 76 arepivoted to a lug or standard 77 which projects upwardly from the top ofthe valve body, and the levers are inclined in the same directions thatthe nozzles which they respectively control extend. The levers and 70are preferably provided with outstanding contact arms 7 S and 79respectively, to be contacted by the skees to be presently described. Byusing two sets of nozzles, one on each side of the cars, as shown byFig. 10, any tendency toward a side thrust is eliminated.

The vane members shown by Figs. 9 to 1 1, both inclusive, have two setsof vanes curved in opposite directions, so that the car can be senteither forward or backward, and it will be noticed by reference to Fig.12 that the vanes which are curved so as to drive the car toward theright hand, are on the outside of vane member 80, but are inside on thevane member 81. The reason for this reversal of the position of thedirection of the vanes in the vane members is to enable a car providedwith the vane members on each side thereof to be run either backward orforward, irrespective of whether the car is turned end for end or not.For example, referring to Fig. 12, the nozzles projecting toward theright hand drive the car toward the right hand in the position of thecar on the tracks as shown. If now the car be turned end for end 011 thetracks, the same nozzles projecting toward the right hand will drive airagainst vanes which are curved so as to drive the car toward the righthand just the same as before, while the nozzles pointing toward the lefthand will drive the car toward the left hand the same as before. Thissame effect is accomplished with the preferred construction where thevane members are located between the rails in exactly the same way byproviding two vane members 10 and 17 with the vanes therein curved inopposite directions, one vane member and one set of nozzles serving todrive the car in one direction, while the other vane member and theother set of nozzles are operative to propel the car in the oppositedirection, and the car can be turned end for end on the tracks and stillhave a vane member operative with one set of nozzles to propel the carin one direction, and operative with the other set of nozzles to propelthe car in the opposite direction.

lVhen the vane members are supported outside of the trucks as shown byFigs. 9 to 1% inclusive, it is preferred to support them from theequalizing bars, for reasons heretofore stated, and they may besupported from the equalizing bars 82 by lugs or other suitablesupporting means, and they may be braced by having pins 83, which arerigidly secured to the truck frames, pass through apertures inprojections 84 and 85 at opposite ends of the vane members.

The contact arms 78 and 79 of levers and 76 are intended to be depressedby skees to open valves 71 and 72 and said valves should have theirupper disks large enough so that the pressure of the compressed airthereon acting in conjunction with gravity will close said valves. Aslevers 7:") and 76 are inclined, as shown, the skees will run over themwithout injurious shock. In the preferred construction, however, thecrank arms 55 and 56 are connected by links and 87 with long levers 88and 89 which are pivoted to standards 90 and 91 secured to ties 92 and93, the free ends of said long levers being retained within guides 91and 95, secured to ties 93 and 92. Springs 90 may be placed beneath thefree ends of said long levers 88 and S9 to normally keep them in raisedposition and to relieve the springs 16 and 17 which close valves 12 and12- from the weight of said levers. These springs 90 may be of thespiral, open or compression type and may be placed within the guides 94and 95.

The long levers S8 and 89 are bent so that they present graduallyinclined surfaces to the skees at both ends and their middle portions 97are so inclined that when the levers are depressed by the skees theirmiddle portions 97 are horizontal. As the valves 42 or 4L3 should becompletely opened, to prevent throttling and wire drawing, when the skeepasses upon the ends of the middle portions 97 of the long levers nearerthe standards 90 and 91, to which said levers are pivoted,the valves 42and 43 should be capable of overthrowing, or opening wider thantheoretically necessary for full discharge capacity which is necessaryto permit the middle portions 97 of the long levers to occupy ahorizontal position, because these long levers are pivoted in a planelower than that occupied by the skees when in their valve openingpositions.

The skees for the preferred construction are designated by the numerals98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104 and 105 (Figs. t to 8 inclusive) andeach is composed of an elongated membcr turned up at both ends andpreferably provided with a plurality of antifriction rollers 10G,adapted to roll upon and over long levers 88 and S9, to depress them toopen valves 12 and -13. ()ne shoe is provided for each vane member andthe anti-friction rollers 106 are so spaced that before one leaves themiddle portion 97 of a long lever 88 or 89 the one following is upon themiddle portion 97. Each skee is attached to two rods, 107 and 108, sothat it will be depressed evenly at each end, and these rods are held inposition by lower and upper lugs 109, 110 projecting from the vanemembers. The rods 107 and 108 are freely movable up and down inapertures in said lugs 109, 110, and they and the skees are normallyheld in a raised position by springs 111 which bear against the uppersurface of the lower lugs 109, and against washers, or plates 112,secured to said rods, as clearly shown by the drawings.

Compressed air is preferably employed for depressing the skees andcompressed air for this purpose is stored in a tank 113, the supplybeing maintained by a pump 114 geared to an axle 15 of one of the trucks(Fig. or in tanks 114 and 116 supplied by an axle driven pump 117. Thecompressed air is led from tank 113 by pipes 118 and 119 to engineersvalves 120, 121. located at the ends of a car. These engineers valvesare du plicates and a description of one, viz: valve 120 will besufficient. The valve consists of a hollow cylindrical shell 122, intothe center of the bottom of which supply pipe 118 from tank 113 leads.Within the shell 122 is a rotatable plug 123 to which the handle 124 issecured. The plug 123 is provided with an axial bore 125 which is inalinement with pipe 118 and always in open communication therewith andthe plug is also provided with a radial port of sufficientcircumferential extent to place supply pipe 118 in communication withskee pipe 126 and train pipe 127, or skee pipe 128 and train pipe 129 atthe same time.

Numeral 130 designates an exhaust pipe. As the pipe leads from valves120 and 121 are the same, the pipes are designated by the same referencecharacters.

The train pipes 127 and 129 are provided so that trailer cars (Fig. 5and cars 58 and 59 Figs. 9 and 10) can be coupled to a pilot carprovided with valves 120 and 121 and the skees of the whole traincontrolled by the engineer by means of one engineers valve. As theengineers valves and their pipe leads are the same in both the preferredand modified constructions shown they are for convenience and simplicitydesignated by the same reference characters. The train pipes 131 and 132carried by the trailers are adapted to be coupled with the train pipes127 and 129 carried by the pilot car by means of hose connections 133 asshown and valves 134 are provided at each end of each train pipe on eachcar to prevent the compressed air escaping at the ends of the train.Each skee pipe 126 and 128, on the pilot car, and each train pipe, 131and 132, carried by the trailers communicates with an auxiliary and forsimplicity of description all auxiliaries on one side of a train aredesignated by the common reference numeral 135 and those on the otherside of the train are designated by the common reference numeral 136.

Each auxiliary in turn communicates with a skee cylinder and all skeecylinders on one side of the train are designated by the commonreference numeral 137, while those on the other side of the train aredesignated by the common reference numeral 138. Each auxiliary consistsof a cylinder 139 with an extension 140. lVithin the cylinder 139 isplaced a bushing 141, provided with a groove 142 at its rear end, andwith-- in the cylinder 139, and bushing 141, is a movable piston 143,with a stem 144, which carries a valve 145, pressed to its seat by aspring 146. The extension 140 is connected with the skee cylinder 137,by the coupling 147, and the extension 140 is provided with an exhaustport 148, controlled by valve 145. lVithin skee cylinder 137 is a piston149, forced in one direction bya spring 150, and adapted to be forced inthe opposite direction against the tension of spring 150 by compressedair. The piston 149 is provided with a piston rod 151, which extends outthrough one end of cylinder 13'. and is adapted to have a leverconnected to the outer end thereof. The other end of the cylinder isprovided with lugs 152 and 153, to which another lever may be secured.

The operation of this part of the apparatus is as follows: lVhencompressed air is admitted into the cylinder 139 of the auxiliary by themanipulation of an engineers valve, the piston 143 is forced to the left(Fig. 17) until the boss 154, on the rear face of the piston contactswith the rear of the cylinder and prevents further movement of thepiston. When the piston is at this end of its stroke, valve 145 closesexhaust port 148, and there is a free but restricted passageway throughgroove 142 for the compressed air to pass from the front side of piston143, to the rear thereof, and into cylinder 137 to push piston 149 outagainst tension of spring 150. The function of the groove 142 is toprevent the compressed air from entering cylinder 137 with a rush, whenthe engineers valve is manipulated, and slamming the skees down hard.Owing to the restricted passageway for the compressed air through groove142 the piston 149 moves gradually, and rather slowly, so that the skeesare forced down gradually and are not liable to be injured. Cylinder 137may be provided with an aperture 155 to maintain normal air pressure onthe spring side of piston 149.

lVhile it is desirable to apply or depress the skees gradually it isequally desirable that they be permitted to rise suddenly. Valve 145 andexhaust port 148 provide for this. When the plug 123 of the engineersvalve is turned so as to place pipe 128, for example, in communicationwith exhaust pipe 130, communication with the supply pipe 118 is cutoff, and the air pressure in pipe 128 suddenly falls. The compressed airin cylinder 137, connection 147, and extension 140, immediately forcespiston 143 to the right (Fig. 17) and the valve 145 uncovers exhaustport 148 permitting the air to exhaust suddenly from cylinder 137. Thespring 150, forces piston 14-9 back quickly permitting the springs 111to lift the skees with equal rapidity.

Separate skee pipes 126 and 128 are provided for the pilot car so thatonly the skees on the pilot car need be depressed according to the powerrequired. An inspection of the engineers valve (Fig. 16) shows that byturning the plug 123, clockwise, the supply pipe 118, is first placed inconnnunication with skee pipe 128, and on "further move ment of the plugin the same direction, train pipe 129 is also placed in communicationwith supply pipe118 so that not only the skees on the pilot car but alsoall the skees on the trailers will be depressed, thus making every carof the train a motor car, and each and all under the complete control ofa single engineer. 1Vhen the plug 123 is turned cont a clockwise. eitherskee pipe 126, or both skee pipe 126 and train pipe 127, may be placedin communication with supply pipe 118 in a manner similar to that justdescribed. The plug 123 is shown by Fig. 16 of the drawings in the lapposition. that is, all communication is cut ofl' between supply pipe 118and pipes 126, 127, 128, 129, and it should be noted that in the lappost tion pipes 126, 127, 128 and 129 are all in tree communication withthe exhaust pipe 130. The exhaust pipe 130 can, of course, be omitted ifdesired as its only purpose is to lead the exhaust outside the car sothat it will not be annoying.

Assuming that the ahead direction for the pilot car, shown by Fig. 5,and its trailer shown by Fig. 5, is to the right, then the vane members17 are the torwardly driving vane members and the vane members 16 arethe reversing or rearwardly driving vane members, and a contra clockwisemovement of the handle 12s and plug 123 of the engineers valve willcause the train to go forward and a clockwise movement of them willcause the train to back up. It the train is in motion it may be stoppedby turning the handle 124 so as to depress the set of skees that wouldcause it to move in the direction opposite to its direction of motion.

The rods 107 and 108, to which the skees are secured, are forced down.when piston 1 10 (Fig. 17) is forced to the left by the compressed air,by very simple motion transmitting mechanism. Each piston 1 10 actuatesaskee for each of the two trucks on a car. A lever 156 is fulcrun'ied atone end to lugs 152 and 153, on cylinder 137, and is pivoted at itsother end to a rod 157, which in turn is pivoted to a crank arm 158secured to a rocker rod 15$) su morted by a vane member. A second crankarm 160 secured to rocker rod 15!) has its end extending over the upperend of one of the rods 107, 108 to which a skee is secured. A

second crank arm 161 extends over the upper end of the other rod of thepair and is secured to a rocker arm 162 also supported by the same vanemember, and this second rocker arm is connected with crank arm 158 bycrank arm 163 and link 161. so that crank arms 160 and 161 and rods 107and 108 move simultaneously and in unison.

To the end of piston rod 151, is pivoted one end of a limiting lever165, the other end of which is pivoted to a rod 166, which is connectedto a crank arm 167, which is secured to a rocker arm 168, supported by avane member and which in turn has secured thereto a crank arm 16%), theend of which extends over the upper end o't' one 0.1 the pair of rods107. 108, to which are secured the other skee, in the manner justdescribed. The other rod of the pair has a crank arm 170, extending overits upper end and this crank arm is secured to a rocker arm 171. whichis connected with crank arm 167 by crank arm 172 and link 1723. Levers156 and 165 are connected by a cylinder bar 171 pivoted to them betweentheir ends in the same manner as with air brake apparatus so that theright hand skces (Figs. 5 and 5). or skees 08, 00, 102 and 103 will bedepressed in unison with the left hand skees or skccs 100, 101", 101 and105. As the mechanisms for operating each other pair of skees areduplicates of those already described. they do not require to bedescribed at length, and for simplicity and to avoid contusion, theparts correspomling to those already described at length are notprovided with reterence characters on the drawings, as a mere inspectiono1 the drawings is sutlicient to identity the corresponding parts.

.\s the skce operating mechanisms used with the moditied arrangement ol'apparatus are substantially duplicates ot those already described, thesame re't'ercnce mnnerals are used on Figs. 1) to 13 ot the drawings todesignate the same elements which are used in both the preferred and themoditied arrangement. Tn the moditied arrangement of apparatus,ho\\'ever, two rocker rods 175 and 176 are used for each truck and eachrocker rod 175 and 176 has two crank arms 177 and 178 and 179 and 180,respectively, secured thereto. Each crank arm 177. 178, 179 and 180 isloosely pivoted to a pressure bar 181. 182, 183 and 18-1 respectively.the ends of each pressure bar resting over and upon vertically disposedrods 185 which are secured to the skees 186 187, 188 and 180 and whichare rcciprocable in lugs 100 and are normallv held in elevated positionsby springs 191 in the same manner as the similar rods 107 and 108already described in detail.

The rocker rod 175 can depress two skees. one at each side ot' thetruck, but an inspection of Fig. 12 ot the drawings shows that each ofsaid skees operates to open the proper valves to admit compressed air tothe sets of vanes in the vane members 80 and 81 which propel the car inthe same direction. In like manner the rocker rod 176 can depress twoskees, one at each side of the truck, but these latter skees will openvalves to admit compressed air to the other sets of vanes in the vanemembers 80 and 81 which are reversely curved so as to propel the car inthe opposite direction.

The operation of the system and apparatus is as follows: A single carmay be used or a plurality of cars may be coupled to form a train asillustrated and described. The cars may be and preferably should beprovided with air brake mechanism and other car and train equipment (notshown because well known to all railroad men). The power house equipmentand reheater plants may be of any desired or preferred type, all thesematters being matters of general engineering information and not forminga part of this invention. By turning the handle 124 of the engineersvalve 120 clockwise or contra clockwise, skees are depressed to propelthe car or train in one direction or the other as desired. To stop a caror train the handle is turned to the lap position and the brakes (notshown) are set in the ordinary manner. When a pilot car and trailers arecoupled to form a train, the skees on the pilot car alone can bedepressed or the skees on each and every car of the train can bedepressed, thus regulating the power to the weight of the train, grades,etc.

By the use of this system lighter equipment can be used, resulting inless wear and tear on the road bed and rails. Heavy steam locomotiveswith their small tractive power are eliminated, as well as heavyelectrical equipment, which also has small. t-ractive power. The railsof the track become simply supporting and guiding elements and are notsubject to the grinding, traotive effort of steam locomotives andelectric traction. Each ear becomes its own motor car, so that trainlengths can be increased indefinitely and handled by one engineer thesame as a single car and as each car is a motor car no more difficultywill be experienced in taking a long train around curves than a singlecar, and it will be impossible for a curve to stall a train as it can dowhen only a single locomotive furnished the tractive power. High speedcan be maintained without pounding the track and road-bed to pieces, asthere are no moving parts such as connecting rods, etc, to introducedifficulties of balancing.

Of course trailers which are not provided with vanes and skees can becoupled to a car or cars which are provided with vanes and skees and thetrain can be operated in the manner described, but unless all the carsof a train are provided with vanes and skees the full benefits andadvantages of this system will not be realized, as will be perfectlyobvious.

The air pipes may be laid imder ground to avoid excessive changes ofclimatic temperatures and, generally speaking, installations should bemade in accordance with good engineering practice and experience.

While I have illustrated and described the best and simplest mechanismsnow known to me for practicing my invention, I am aware that manychanges can be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof myinvention, and I, therefore, do not limit my invention to the specificarrangements and structures of apparatus illustrated and described.

lVhat I claim is:

1. The combination with a track and a car movable thereon, of propellingvanes carried by the car for propelling it in one direction, otherpropelling vanes also car ried by the car for propelling it in theopposite direction, nozzles adapted to direct compressed air againstsaid vanesfor propelling the car, a pipe to conduct compressed air tosaid nozzles, valves to control the flow of compressed air from saidnozzles and skees carried by the car and operable therefrom to actuatesaid valves.

2. The combination with. a track and a train movable thereon, said trainbeing composed of a plurality of cars coupled together, of propellingvanes carried by each of said cars, nozzles adapted to direct compressed air against said vanes for propelling the cars, a pipe toconduct compressed air to said nozzles, valves to control the flow ofcompressed air from said nozzles, and a skee carried by each car, theskees carried by the several cars being operable from a single car toactuate said valves.

3. The combinz-ition with a track and a train movable thereon, saidtrain being composed of a plurality of cars coupled together, ofpropelling vanes carried by each of said cars for propelling the car inone direction, other propelling vanes carried by each of said cars forpropelling the car in the opposite direction, nozzles adapted to directcompressed air against said vanes for propelling the cars, a pipe toconduct compressed air to said nozzles, valves to control the How ofcompressed air from said nozzles and a plurality of skees carried byeach car, all the skees carried by the several cars being operable froma single car to actuate said valves.

l. The combination with the wheels and truck of a car of a vane member,provided with propelling vanes, carried thereby and so supported thereonthat it maintains a predetermined fixed position with respect to saidwheels.

5. The combination with a car of propelmu n. A. 4-

holding said skees in a 'aised position and mechanism for depressingsaid skees.

7. The combination with a car of propelling vanes, a skee, a cylinderand piston t'or depressing said skee, a train pipe and an cngineers'alve adapted to supply compressed air either to said cylinder alone orto both said cylinder and said train pipe.

In witness whereof I hereto aflix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

' JULIUS O. COBB.

\Vitnesses CHAS. L. Goss, FRANK E. DENNETT.

